Patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) have an enhanced risk of cardiovascular (CV) morbidity and mortality when compared with age- and gender-matched individuals with normal kidney function. Trimethlyamine N-oxide (TMAO) is a gut-derived amine oxide that has been implicated in the causation of CV diseases. Plasma TMAO is cleared by the kidney, and TMAO levels are elevated in CKD. Experimental studies have identified pathogenic mechanisms by which TMAO may contribute to CV disease through dysregulation of lipid metabolism, enhanced macrophage foam cell formation, and platelet dysfunction...

Background: In addition to strain taxonomy, the ability of probiotics to confer beneficial effects on the host rely on a number of additional factors including epigenetic modulation of bacterial genes leading to metabolic variability and might impact on probiotic functionality. Aims: To investigate metabolism and functionality of two different batches of a probiotic blend commercialized under the same name in Europe in models of intestinal inflammation. Methods: Boxes of VSL#3, a probiotic mixture used in the treatment of pouchitis, were obtained from pharmacies in UK subjected to metabolomic analysis and their functionality tested in mice rendered colitis by treatment with DSS or TNBS...

An open label, randomized, exploratory study comprising 44 healthy, overweight subjects with cardio-metabolic syndrome (CMS) risk factors was conducted to assess the safety, tolerability and efficacy of a proprietary lifestyle modification program without (DIET) and with (PROG) targeted nutraceutical supplementation including soy, pea and whey proteins, phytosterols, antioxidants, probiotics, fish oil and berberine over 13-weeks. Key metrics were recorded at baseline, weeks 9 and 13. For DIET and PROG compliance was 85% and 86%, respectively, with no adverse events related to the diet or supplements...

Many different fungi, including yeasts and molds, can be found in the intestinal tract of humans constituting the gut mycobiome. In case the bacterial flora is altered, the fungal flora may react inversely. By a so-called fungal diet, however, the composition of the mycobiome can hardly be influenced. Whereas some fungi are only transiently present in the gut after oral uptake, others, such as Candida, Saccharomyces, Rhodotorula, Trichosporon, Geotrichum, amongst others, are members of the residential, autochthonous gut flora...

Wear particle-induced inflammatory osteolysis is the primary cause of aseptic loosening, which is the most common reason for total hip arthroplasty (THA) failure in the med- and long term. Recent studies have suggested an important role of gut microbiota (GM) in modulating the host metabolism and immune system, leading to alterations in bone mass. Probiotic bacteria administered in adequate amounts can alter the composition of GM and confer health benefits to the host. Given the inflammatory osteolysis that occurs in wear debris-induced prosthesis loosening, we examined whether the probiotic Lactobacillus casei could reduce osteolysis in a mouse calvarial resorption model...

Synbiotics refer to combinations of probiotics and prebiotics that act synergistically to confer health benefits to the host. As a therapeutic strategy, they provide a gentle yet powerful method for modulating the composition and metabolic output of the human gut microbiota. In the context of achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals, synbiotics have the potential to act as cost-effective prophylactic measures against a variety of human ailments, ranging from infant diarrhoea to metabolic and inflammatory diseases in adults, by maintaining commensal microbial communities and metabolic networks that are conducive to human health...

Background: Female age-related estrogen deficiency increases the risk of osteoporosis, which can be effectively treated with the use of hormone replacement therapy. However, hormone replacement therapy is demonstrated to increase cancer risk. Bioavailable isoflavones with selective estrogen receptor affinity show potential to prevent and treat osteoporosis while minimizing or eliminating carcinogenic side effects.Objective: In this study, we sought to determine the beneficial effects of a bioavailable isoflavone and probiotic treatment against postmenopausal osteopenia...

Clostridium difficile is the largest single cause of hospital-acquired infection in the United States. A major risk factor for Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) is prior exposure to antibiotics, as they disrupt the gut bacterial community which protects from C. difficile colonization. Multiple antibiotic classes have been associated with CDI susceptibility, many leading to distinct community structures stemming from variation in bacterial targets of action. These community structures present separate metabolic challenges to C...

Calcium (Ca) is one of the most abundant inorganic elements in the human body and has many important physiological roles. Prebiotics and bioactive peptides are two important substances used to promote calcium uptake. However, the difference in mechanisms of the calcium uptake from these two supplements is not clear. By using the Gallus gallus model and the intra-amniotic administration procedure, the aim of this study was to investigate whether Ca status, intestinal functionality, and health-promoting bacterial populations were affected by prebiotics extracted from chickpea and lentil, and duck egg white peptides (DPs)...

Bacillus spp. are widely used in animal production for their probiotic properties. In many animal species, feed supplementation with specific Bacillus strains can provide numerous benefits including improvement in digestibility, the gut microbiota and immune modulation, and growth performance. Bacilli are fed to animals as spores that can sustain the harsh feed processing and long storage. However, the spores are metabolically quiescent and it is widely accepted that probiotics should be in a metabolically active state to perform certain probiotic functions like secretion of antimicrobial compounds and enzymes, synthesis of short chain fatty acids, and competition for essential nutrients...

BACKGROUND: The nuclear receptor PPARγ is an effective pharmacological target for some types of metabolic syndrome, including obesity, diabetes, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, and cardiovascular disease. However, the current PPARγ-targeting thiazolidinedione drugs have undesirable side effects. Danshensu Bingpian Zhi (DBZ), also known as tanshinol borneol ester derived from Salvia miltiorrhiza, is a synthetic derivative of natural compounds used in traditional Chinese medicine for its anti-inflammatory activity...

Bifidobacterium longum (B. Longum) is a common probiotic colonized in the human gut and against the development of chronic inflammation including inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). But the underlying mechanism remains unknown. The aim of this study was to evaluate the affection of B. longum on the methylation levels of forkhead box P3 (Foxp3) promoter. 2, 4, 6-trinitrobenzenesulphonic acid (TNBS)-induced colitis rat models were treated with B. longum or medium, respectively. The genomic DNA of spleen peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) cells was extracted...

Considerable variations among probiotics with respect to their health benefitting attributes fuel the research on bioprospecting of proficient probiotic strains from various ecological niches especially the poorly unexplored ones. In the current study, kalarei, an indigenous cheese-like fermented milk product, and other dairy-based sources like curd and raw milk were used for isolation of lactic acid bacteria (LAB). Among 34 LAB isolates, 7 that could withstand simulated gastrointestinal (GI) conditions were characterized for functional probiotic attributes, viz...

The realisation that microbes regarded as beneficial to the host can impart effects at sites distant from their habitat, has raised many possibilities for treatment of diseases. The objective of a workshop hosted in Turku, Finland, by the International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics, was to assess the evidence for these effects and the extent to which early life microbiome programming influences how the gut microbiota communicates with distant sites. In addition, we examined how probiotics and prebiotics might affect the skin, airways, heart, brain and metabolism...

Knee osteoarthritis (OA) treatment is challenging due to inefficacy and adverse effects of current medications. Probiotic treatment has been shown to promote bone metabolism, reduce pain and inflammatory responses of age-related musculoskeletal disorders, including OA. We aimed to investigate the effect of probiotic Lactobacillus casei Shirota (LcS) on patients with knee OA. 537 patients with knee OA were enrolled in this double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, who were randomised to receive skimmed milk containing either LcS or placebo daily for 6 months...

In the present study, we explored whether dietary lipid content influences the gut microbiome in adult zebrafish. Diets containing three different lipid levels (high [HFD], medium [MFD], and low [LFD]) were administered with or without the supplementation of Lactobacillus rhamnosus (P) to zebrafish in order to explore how the dietary lipid content may influence the gut microbiome. Dietary lipid content shifted the gut microbiome structure. The addition of L. rhamnosus in the diets, induced transcriptional reduction of orexigenic genes, upregulation of anorexigenic genes, and transcriptional decrease of genes involved in cholesterol and triglyceride (TAG) metabolism, concomitantly with lower content of cholesterol and TAG...

A screening for oxalate degrading abilities was initially carried on within Lactic Acid Bacteria cultures of different food origin. Seventy-nine strains were drop-inoculated onto MRS agar plates containing calcium oxalate. By comparing colonies diameters, 31 strains were used to inoculate, in parallel, MRS and MRS modified by sodium oxalate addition. Differences in the strains' growth were assessed by colony forming unit counts. For two strains, the growth in oxalate enriched medium was significantly higher; while, for eleven strains an opposite behaviour was recorded...